Sunday, May 9, 2010

Wow it's been a long time between postings. Time is going by so quickly that I just ... well no time for excuses.

The first weekend of May saw 13.57 inches of rain in the Nashville TN area. We came through just fine - one small leak near the chimney. Neighbors had problems with lots of water - some in their homes. I think we're on the high spot on the cul-de-sac. I used to think that the funniest thing I had seen was a soaking wet roadrunner. Now I think it may be mockingbirds that are soaking wet. All their feathers just hang down with all the water. This one just sat on the fence, in the downpour, and sang and sang.

I did find one visitor after the rain... a blue-tailed skink. He's been released into my garden bed where he (or she) has places to hide, places to sun himself and lots of things to eat.

In the back yard, our raised beds are starting to fill up. DH has harvested some sugar snap peas for my dinner on Friday - Things have about doubled in size since this photo was taken a week or so ago.

I've been doing more spinning recently. Finished a skein of Falkland dyed by AllSpunUpI love the colors and the quality of her fibers. I've moved on to some gray Corriedale that I purchased at Crown Mountain Farms. Love the color but I'm going to play with it a bit more to decide how I want do spin this. Meanwhile I have some more of AllSpunUp's braids that I can play with.

Knitting has slowed down a bit. I'm knitting a shawl called Windswept from Fiddlesticks Knitting I love the Exquisite yarn which came with the kit - it's 50% mulberry silk and 50% merino. I have other 50/50 silk/merino combination yarns but this one is so much softer. Must be the bombyx silk instead of tussah.

For more information about silk then you ever thought you would want to know see Worm Spit. Com. This man's knowledge is awesome!

On another note - it is so great to get back in touch with people you haven't been in contact with for years. That's happened to me recently and I'm really grateful for this. My MIL had been diagnosed with Alzheimer's and I have been really concerned. I have not been in contact with her or DH's siblings in a long time. Recent updates indicate she is doing better than I thought and I'm so glad of this. Things will get harder down the road but hopefully we'll all remember these good times.

Off to enjoy the remainder of Mother's Day. Wishing a Happy Mother's Day for all the mothers, today and always.